Albertsons closing 13 stores in Florida

The Albertsons grocery store in Oakland Park will soon be one of only four remaining stores in Florida after the national chain closes 13 other locations by the early summer.

Albertsons announced that it will close 13 stores in Florida, affecting a total of 1,100 people who are currently employed with the company, according to Christine Wilcox, spokeswoman for Albertsons.

Liquidation sales will begin as early as May, and stores are expected to close by June.

The nearest closing Albertsons store to South Florida is in Port St. Lucie, according to company records.

The Albertsons location in Key West will close by the end of April, earlier than most other stores.

The company will also shutter a distribution center in Plant City.

Four stores will remain open in the state, including the store at 950 E. Commerical Blvd. in Oakland Park. Three other stores in Central Florida and the Tampa area will also remain open. It is unknown how many employees work at the Oakland Park store.

“We evaluate our store base frequently, but chose to follow recommendations that will allow us to focus on our healiest stores in Florida,” Wilcox said.

Albertsons is a discount grocer with stores across the country. An industry publication, Supermarket News, ranked the grocer No. 35 on a list of top 75 retailers and wholesalers in 2012, based on annual sales. Albertsons reported estimated sales of $3.9 billion in February.